Mocha Coffee is Yemeni

I had my vision statement presentation on July 19 in a Leadership retreat with Professor Ray Shiu who Works at Center for Social Justice, Georgetown University. my vision statement was about promoting planting Coffee in Yemen instead of Qat, which is a type of drugs and it is immensely harming Yemen economically, socially, and environmentally…etc.

Mocha Bunn/coffee is famous all around the world because of its distinctive taste and quality. Yemen was once the number one exporter of coffee to the whole world, but unfortunately things changed due to Qat, water shortage, and political corruption.

By promoting and encouraging planting Mocha Coffee again in Yemen, doors will open for positive changes to happen. For example, growing coffee can strengthen the weak economy in Yemen. Besides, it will enable us to fight Qat farms and market by building a network of coffee supporters in Yemen and potential clients and importers of Yemeni coffee around the world. In addition, it is a great way to sustain the green environment and lessen the air pollution. Finally, it will revive one of the best trades and things that Yemen has been famous of for decades which is Mocha coffee, named after the Makha Bay where it had been exported to other countries.

Civil Society and Government with Professor Clyde Wilcox, Georgetown University

      We had a civil society and government class with professor Clyde Wilcox on Monday. It was a wonderful class that I could not miss any information he gave. The class was full of a must know things that I kept writing till my fingers hurt so badly. Anyways, I find it really interesting to share with you all the most important lessons and information I learned that day. Those lessons can be taken personally or generally in creating a group that wants to make a positive change in the community.

According to the professor, the function of civil society is better than depending on the government. He gave an example of a small public library in the area that was at first insufficiently funded by the government, but then expanded and flourished with books by raising money from privet sects, donations, and community service projects.

He pointed out that forming groups in the USA is not a problem at all. If the group do not raise huge amount of money then there is no need for the tax raters to know what is happing with group and vice versa. He added that with such groups that serve the community the less the government is involved in the group’s work, the better the society will give support and be supported. One comparison to be raisin here between Yemen and The USA is that when I had my own group in Yemen, we were raising large amounts of money but the government did not interfere in our work at all. I wonder why!

He told us about the National Rifle Association and its successful journey throughout the past years. He also gave us a million worthy tips on how to create a powerful group in our community. He advised us to communicate our vision strongly with dedication to our causes. He also said that being organized is more convincing to the society and the government. This way we will be able to attract and gain supporters and advocates. He said that asking people to help would only make them help but with less commitment and willingness of helping. In addition, he said that any group should recognize its capacity and what it is able to change in the community. Furthermore, he said there are a lot of ways to keep people advocating and supporting our groups, for example, by sharpening volunteers’ skills and focusing on the strength points they have, furthermore, by encouragement, directing, motivating, giving recognition, and making it fun. Besides the coolest way to win people over and publicizing our group’s activities that is having a celebrity as an advocate.

As a person who has a strong fondness in community service projects I found this class really useful and inspiring. I hope you have been inspired too.

July 16, Monday: Screen on The Green!

MEPI scholarship, being in the USA, meeting people from different cultures and my FRACTURED foot are a lot to happen at once. I guess I needed a breather. Therefore, we went to an outdoor movie near the capital with our mentor Dan Brunner. They were playing a western movie: Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid. I loved every minute of it even the long nap that i had and made me miss the first half of the movie. I loved how people were organized spontaneously without any police officers or ushers around. I realized that day that the place never matters, the people and good company is further more important than anything. So thank you DAN! watching an outdoor movie was a first to me 😀

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DC Farmers Market

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One thing to say is that developed countries are fighting for what the developing countries have and vice versa. Take those farmers markets as evidence. America is fighting to establish such markets and advocates farmers. What do YOU think????

July 8, Sunday. Baltimore Bay, My First Real Encounter with a Magician!

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I spent this day literally observing and talking to strangers. The man who stood out on this day was a magician who was standing in front of the bay with his magical set and utilities. He was a man in his fifties. I had a brief talk with him because I did not dear waste his precious time trying as hard as he can to attract his audience. His life depends on time, and he does what he does for living. I would just be guilty if I asked more of his time, and I cannot live with that.

I can remember clearly how his eyes sparked every time one of the Baltimore’s visitors glanced at him or gave him any sort of attention. He was magnetic that nobody could resist stopping to watch his tricks. I believe that his power comes from his strong survival instinct and patience. He affected a lot of people and spontaneously compelled his audience to tip him.

At the end of his show he looked at me and said “I hope you enjoyed the show and I wish I had the ability to use my magical stick to heal your foot”. I do not know how his tricks fooled me, but I knew better that he could never get my foot healed even though he does magical things.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a true leader who knew how to control his audience, inspire them and fool them yet making them leave happily. I learned because of him that a true leader should pay attention, be perceptive and try as possible it could be to integrate all people around him in what he strongly advocates.

Saturday, July 7: A visit to Chesapeake Bay environment center

This day was my first trip outdoors after I fractured my foot. It is true that I did not have the chance to run, have fun or do the volunteer activity; however, I had the chance to observe the beauty of nature, and most importantly to chat with our bus driver for that day. Because I suck at remembering names, I cannot tell exactly what his name was. He is a middle-aged person who has spent twenty five years studying and working in the USA.

This Indian man who was really compassionate and caring enough to give up the A.C in his bus joined me in the heated weather outside in Chesapeake Bay. We brought up a lot of subjects, one of which is the differences between his home country India and the United States of America.

According to him, it is really expensive to live in the USA. This is one of the reasons that made him step pursuing his education which brought him here in the first place. I remember he said “I started to cut classes and I got a part time job till I finally decided to stop going to school. I had to pay the bills and sustain my family”. I believe that he is a wonderful person or allow me to say he is a leader who put aside his future and who compromised for his family’s sake. This is how every leader should be. A true leader should think of the people’s benefit he leads before thinking of his own self interests first.

I hope I am quoting him right, but those words are really lessons of a self-made successful person whose daughters now are studying to be doctors; one of his daughters was even rewarded as the top student in her school and the area around.

“I work my back hard here, and I am trying to do my best for my daughters who have always made me proud”.

“In order to be satisfied and content in your life, you need to learn how to compromise and accept”

Presentations and Effective Writing Skills

Today professor Eric Langenbacher taught us that a good presentation is based on reliable and good writing. In sequences, a good effective writing has got to be simple and easy to comprehend. Thus let me start sharing with you and laying down the things I have learned of how you can compose an effective writing:

1- first you should know that there are goals for any of your writings which can be:

• generating new facts.
• claiming knowledge.
• presenting objective warranted assertability.
• giving the feeling that knowledge is tentative that make others feel confidence about your writings.
• solving a puzzle; whodunits, whydunits and howdunits .
• filling the hole in literature.
• applying one theory into another area.
• synthesizing existing strands into something new.
• shifting paradigms which is away of knowing.

2- second, you should apply the term “Ordnung” which is an expressive Germanic word of the German and means ORDER:

• you have to keep your writing tight and logical, and keep organization in your mind.
• using outlines and abstracts is quite useful initially.
• thinking like a social scientist helps making your writings professional:  1- disciplining technique is to think in terms of variables and it is important in making you look like a social scientist. 2- the dependent variable is what you want to explain Y. 3. the independent variables are what you think do the  explaining.
• bare in your mind that a supported variable is better than several not well supported.
• keep it simple.
• use diagrams and bullets.

3- third, the data:

• should be valid and reliable which means can be repeated.
• also empirical observations from reality.
• you should try to approximate what you want to study as much as possible.

Well, this is only a few of what I have learned today, I’ll keep you updated with more soon inshAllah.

Handicapped People in America

       I cannot believe I have twisted and fractured my foot for the first time in my life in AMERICA! When everyone  was having fun, I spent most of my time figuring out how to use the wheelchair and the crutches.  It breaks my heart that I am not able to experience the MEPI Adventure and my first trip outside Yemen to the fullest. However, this disability drew my attention to how easy life could be for handicapped people in the USA.

I was running to my room in yesterday in the morning at the dormitory of Georgetown University to pick up an important phone call. I  was running so fast that i fractured my foot. Then my mentor David Hee Lee the founder of the NGOs called the Georgetown University medical care. Just as soon as David hang up the phone, they were around the corner. That was amazing. I mean in some other countries, people die waiting for an ambulance to come! They took good care of me and took me to the Georgetown hospital where they took x-ray for my foot. They treated me extra medical care of my foot. I loved the way they treated me.

As soon as we left the hospital (with the wheelchair and the free crutches), we found on every pavements slides for wheelchairs. Thus it was easy for me not hurt myself while being on the streets. To get to the cafeteria, we also found a way for handicapped people to get in and out of the place. Then after having lunch, it was time for our class. the class was on the second floor, and it was not hard for me to get there. There was also away for people with disabilities to reach the elevator without having to use any kind of stairs. It is amazing how all people here can have the same experience of easy life equally. Personally, I respect such places where everyone is engaged in the community regardless of any obstacles or impairments they have.

At the end, I would like to really thank David for being their when I needed him the most. I also thank all my MEPI friends who helped me pushing the wheelchair in this heated weather, and who are standing by my side. Thank you MEPI’s of Georgetown university and thank you Marie, Anwar, Marina, Taher, Randa, and Ammar for staying with me.

Celebrating America on the 4th of July…

Celebrating America on the 4th of July….

Reflections on MEPI

Reflections on MEPI.